Crazy for Christmas
by justlook3
Summary: Historian Jacob Stone and museum staffer Cassandra Cillian have had an online relationship for months. But when they finally meet, a mistake forces them to switch identities with their respective best friends. Now two couples are falling in love for the holidays but what happens when the truth comes out?
1. Chapter 1

It started a year ago on a forum devoted to prehistoric sites in Europe. Two users named artwelivein and mathgirl06 had a lively discussion in the section devoted to Newgrange in Ireland which lead to private messages. Which eventually lead to emails and nearly nightly chat sessions using a messaging program.

Eventually the two had exchanged their real names and over the course of their conversations had determined that they lived in different cities. Cassandra Cillian, mathgirl06, lived in Chicago. And Jacob Stone, artwelivein, was based out of Dallas but traveled quite a bit for his job. But beyond that, the two didn't talk about their jobs and they'd made an unspoken agreement not to seek out any communication beyond their emails and chats.

Both had been tempted to google the other, but never did. They'd built up a special relationship that seemed to be on another plane entirely. It was, as Jacob told her one night in chat, the best relationship he'd ever been in.

 _It's weird to have such strong feelings for someone whose face I've never seen and whose voice I've never heard._

 _Well, we could Skype I guess . . ._

 _I know but somehow . . .I guess it's the romantic in me. I like what we have._

Sitting on her laptop at home, Cassandra lovingly caressed the screen, lost in thought.

 _Cassandra? Did I say something?_

 _No, I just, I do kinda want to know what you look like. What color your eyes are, that kinda thing._

 _I guess maybe sending a photo wouldn't hurt. I'd have to go search, mine are all on my phone._

 _Well, I got some here, hang on._

There was a pause on both ends while they hunted for photos. Cassandra opened a folder that had some recent photos of herself and her friend Eve at a party. Eve was her usual stunning tall super model gorgeous self, but Cassandra felt like she at least had made a decent showing, even though she was so shy and nothing compared to Eve.

She returned to chat and typed _Here we are:_

Then attached the photo.

And stared in horror as the photo loaded and she realized she'd clicked on the photo next to the one of her. One of Eve.

Okay, well that was embarrassing. She'd just have to apologize . . . .

 _My God, you're gorgeous._

And then Jacob launched into nearly a paragraph of poetic praises of her beauty while Cassandra stared mouth open at the laptop. No, no, no, what had she done? Now she couldn't tell him that she'd made a mistake could she? Well, it wasn't as if they were ever going to meet. They'd discussed it a few times but their schedules made it impossible and Cassandra had long since given up. Maybe it was time to take Eve's advice and start looking for a man in town and start breaking away from this online lover. Even though she would never find a man like him, ever, anywhere. There was only one Jacob Stone and she was in love with him, sight unseen. What had she done? Now he believed that she looked like Eve. His artistic soul would be disappointed in her. She was pretty enough, but quirky and frilly, everything willowy Eve was not.

She realized that Jacob had excused him from the chat for a minute. That was good, it would let her have time to compose herself further.

Meanwhile in a hotel room across the country, Jacob Stone was panicking. He never expected his Cassandra to look like that. He imagined her to be small and bookish, she seemed so shy and quiet. A lot like him.

And she was so damn tall! He'd always been told he was decent enough looking but he was not tall, not by a long shot. And Cassandra . . . looked like a super model. All this time, he'd been falling in love with a girl that wasn't even remotely in his league.

He sighed looking at his phone and the photo of his co-worker Flynn Carsen. Flynn was at least tall . . . .

Jacob took a deep breath. They were never going to meet anyway, so what was the harm. One little white lie.

And he posted the photo.

The photo was and wasn't what Cassandra was expecting. He was tall, but that was alright. A little bit more suave than she'd pictured Jacob being. Was that a pocket handkerchief? He'd once told her he was a country boy and that image didn't mesh with the man in the photo. But she'd always gathered that he'd had dreams far beyond that farm, so maybe he'd adopted a more urbane look to fit in with his academic pursuits. It totally made sense.

And he was certainly handsome enough. Though not quite what Cassandra had pictured. But then again, he thought she looked like Eve, so what could she say?

She told him he looked quite handsome. And they changed the subject to discuss other topics.

* * *

Normally Cassandra would be filled with holiday cheer. Christmas was her favorite season of the year. But something had happened with Jacob in the last couple of weeks. They talked just as much as ever, but it just seemed like he was pulling away from her. She couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was. And yesterday she'd sent him an e-card for Thanksgiving and he'd only replied with a thank you. But, she supposed maybe he was with his family and just didn't have time to respond.

And maybe he'd been busy with work. Lots of places were and she knew he traveled quite a bit for work, though she didn't know what he did. It made for interesting conversations because he would tell her about the places he was currently visiting, sometimes sending her a photo of an interesting building or park.

Speaking of busy, Cassandra looked at her watch, five minutes until opening. It would be busy today at the museum, probably not until afternoon, but after the Black Friday shopping many families liked to come out taking advantage of the day off of school and work. Today was also the first day of the museum's popular "Holidays Around the World" exhibit.

This exhibit was her baby and she worked hard for half the year on it. Always researching for something new to share with the thousands who'd made it their own Christmas tradition to come out and see the gaily dressed trees and learn about other cultures and places. She made a final tweak to the tree she was standing in front of and looked around satisfied.

She heard the clicking of heels on the old wood floor and turned to see her friend Eve Baird. Eve was the PR director for the museum and always looked confident and polished. Even today which should have been her day off. Today she was wearing jeans and a casual plaid top, but they still managed to look ready for business on her.

"I didn't think you were coming in today," Cassandra said with a smile.

"I thought about it, but eh, I really didn't want to throw elbows at the mall with my mother and Aunt Hilda again this year. Besides," Eve held up her folder. "About ready to seriously kick off the pr for the Treasures of Mesopotamia exhibit. They'll be here next week to start setting up."

Cassandra's face lit up. "Oooh yes, I've been looking forward to that."

Eve laughed. "Oh, of course, you'd know when they're setting up."

"Yep, they made me the liaison on this. Though honestly I probably won't have to do much. From what I hear the crew that they send does an amazing job. Very professional and easy to work with."

"That's been my experience dealing with their press department. And we should have a rotating historian in residence too, so we don't have to take Jenkins off his duties to handle it, unlike the last one."

Cassandra giggled and then glanced down at her watch. "Well we're about to open. Lunch? I brought leftovers."

Eve smiled. "Me too, I didn't want to deal with the cafe or trying to go out today. It was bad enough the traffic getting here. My office at noon? It'll be quiet."

"See you then."

* * *

"So you wanna tell me what is up with you?" Eve asked over lunch. "You're normally the most Christmas-y person I know. And yet, you seem like it's all surface. Did something happen with your online buddy?"

"Jacob is not just an online buddy!"

"Sweetie, you've never met the man. He could be a creeper still living in his mother's basement. Or 70 years old."

"He's not! " Cassandra objected, grabbing her phone. "He sent me a photo. See?"

Eve's eyes widened. "Wow, not bad. Not bad at all actually."

"I know," Cassandra sighed. "It's just I think I screwed up."

"How?"

"Well, the day he sent me that, I meant to send him one from the benefit party."

"Oh, the green dress, you looked amazing."

"Yeah, only I accidentally clicked on the wrong one and sent one of you."

"What? Okay, well that's awkward. I'm sure you laughed about it."

"Except he thought it was a picture of me and started waxing poetic about my statuesque beauty." Cassandra covered her face with her hands. "I couldn't bring myself to correct him."

She peeked through her fingers, expecting her friend to be angry about the deception. Only Eve burst into laughter.

"Well, that's different. You're catfishing a guy."

"I didn't mean to! And I feel terrible. But I'm starting to think that it's the beginning of the end anyway."

"How so?"

"He's been so distant since that day. He barely acknowledged the card I sent him yesterday. And the topics we discuss are all so superficial now. I think he's pulling away. I keep telling myself it's just the holidays and we're all so busy right now. But . . . ."

Eve's face softened. "I know you care about him. But maybe it is a sign that it's just not meant to be. You've both tried so often to meet and it never worked out. Maybe you should move on."

Cassandra nodded. "I think you're right. It's just so. . .I thought he was the one. But fate I think had different plans. After the holidays, I think I'll start figuring out how to tell him goodbye. "

Eve nodded. "But try to enjoy the holidays anyway, I hate seeing you so sad. This is your season, enjoy it. And after New Year's, maybe I'll set you up with that second cousin of mine I keep talking about. I think you'd be perfect together."

Cassandra quirked a smile but shrugged. "Maybe."

Cassandra was a little sad as she went back to work. But then she saw a little girl staring in awe at one of the Christmas trees and she smiled. It was Christmas, it was a time for wonder and miracles. And with or without Jacob, she was going to enjoy this holiday.


	2. Chapter 2

Jacob Stone sighed as he ticked off yet another item on his sheet. Why did it have to be Chicago? Three weeks ago he'd been so excited about it, he'd known for some time Chicago was coming up, but he'd wanted to surprise Cassandra. And he'd not been sure until this week what his dates were as historian in residence. He'd planned on it being his Christmas surprise to Cassandra. Six weeks in her city, six weeks together.

But then he'd found out she was out of his league. And then he'd panicked like an idiot and sent that photo of Flynn instead. It was all such a mess.

So now, he wasn't going to tell her where he was. Chicago was a big city, the odds on them even meeting were low. He could be there for six weeks and she would never know. And honestly, he'd been pulling back so much lately from her. He could almost feel the hurt tone in her voice. That card she sent yesterday . . . .

The fact that he'd barely acknowledged it made him feel so low. But he had to do this. Even though he could feel his heart breaking. Even if Cassandra could have been the one for him.

After the holidays, he was going to find a way to break it off with her. He didn't want to disappear. They'd meant so much to each other over the course of this year. So he'd have to break up with her just like a real relationship.

He sighed again, just as his co-worker Flynn Carsen came in, carrying his own clipboard and muttering about something that Jones had done.

Jacob looked up as Flynn sat down beside him. "Hey Flynn, Jones messing things up again?"

"The usual, too busy instagramming or whatever it is he does to actually listen. I'm starting to think maybe one of us should go with the truck instead of him."

Jacob chuckled. "Well if there's one thing that Jones loves, it's being in charge. He'll be fine." His tone changed to resignation. "Besides you and I have to get there ahead."

Flynn gave him a look at the sudden change in tone. "What's wrong? You've been so excited about Chicago. Isn't that where your online paramour lives?"

"She does. And I planned on surprising her for Christmas. But . . ." Jacob grabbed his phone. "She sent me her photo."

Flynn's eyes widened as he looked. "Stone, I'm impressed."

Jacob shook his head. "I should be too. A beautiful woman like that? Smart, single, sweet, interested in me? And yet . . . ."

"She is rather tall. Would tower over you . . . ."Flynn clapped a hand over his mouth. Sometimes he spoke without thinking.

Jake groaned but nodded. "She's outta my league. And she's kinda . . . ."

"Not your type?" Flynn asked, looking with way too much interest at the photo. "She's actually more . . . ."

"Yours," Jacob said sullenly. "Yeah, I noticed the whole blonde bombshell thing you're got going on, what with Emily and Nicole. Which is why . . . ."

"Why what?"

Jacob jumped up and started pacing. "I kinda sent her a picture of you."

Flynn looked confused. "What?"

"I panicked alright? She's just so gorgeous and tall! I didn't know what to do. So I sent her a pic of you."

"You're in a fine mess, my friend."

"I know," Jacob sighed. "I'm not tellin' her I'm in Chicago. She won't know, it's a huge city. And after the holidays, I'm breaking it off. I can't keep doing this to either of us."

Flynn looked sad. Jacob knew that no one else understood how he felt about Cassandra. But Flynn had a way of getting people. Flynn patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Stone."

"Yeah, me too. Well, let's make sure Ezekiel is ready to go, then let's go get a beer. Monday we'll be in Chicago."

* * *

Flynn and Jacob had arrived in Chicago in the late afternoon so they were to go to the museum in the morning. After checking in with Ezekiel to make sure everything had arrived and having dinner, Jacob and Flynn went to their rooms.

Jacob was checking his emails, sighing at the ones from Cassandra. It hurt him now to read them, still so cheerful and lovely and wonderful. All the things that Cassandra was. Was he being too superficial? It was insane really. He was being insane. She was too beautiful for him?

"What is that? Who thinks like that?" He asked himself as he stared at the laptop. "She's not really my type. But I was prepared to love her if she was just a mousy little thing like I thought she was. Instead she's gorgeous. Why . . . ."

And he sighed and realized that he'd always pictured Cassandra as someone adorable and bubbly. And he couldn't quite imagine this cool beauty being adorable and bubbly. But hey looks weren't everything. The photo was obviously taken at a party, so she would have been done up to the nines. Maybe she and friends had had makeovers. Maybe in her day to day life she wasn't so intimidating?

The chat was blinking in the corner and he clicked on it.

 _Hey darlin'._

 _How are you? How was Thanksgiving?_

 _Hectic, I'm really sorry. I have a huge family and I had to go to two houses. It was crazy. Plus I had to get ready for more work. Never ever done. But don't wanna talk about that. How was your Thanksgiving?_

He kept her busy talking so he didn't have to carry on his end. And he could avoid the subject of where he was. It was better this way. He didn't want to ruin her holiday by breaking it off now.

And besides he had rather missed her little chats. So he closed his eyes and imagined her being adorable and bubbly and got through.

* * *

The next morning, he and Flynn headed to the museum. A middle aged no-nonsense woman named Charlene lead them upstairs to their exhibit space. She looked down at the mobile phone she had in her hand and sighed.

"I swear this area is the land of the dead for cellular service. I step right over there," and she pointed to the windows. "And full service, right here, absolutely nothing. But at any rate, I will go call the liaison. She's also in charge of the seasonal exhibit and we had an incident with a preschooler touching something they shouldn't have this morning so she's cleaning it up. It'll be just a moment. And our head of PR will be coming along with her."

"That's fine," Jacob said. "We'll just start taking some measurements."

Charlene stepped away and Jacob did what he always did. Flynn had a tape and was marking things off on his ipad. But Jacob had his own keen since of space and measurement. He started silently counting as he walked to the open area that overlooked the downstairs. Later today workers would wall off the area so that they could work, but right now the area was open.

He looked downstairs into the holiday exhibit and had to smile. It was gorgeous and he'd have to check it out. A young woman on a cell phone down below caught his eye. She was a pretty redhead in a red cardigan and a dark blue skirt with a snowflake pattern on it. A lanyard hung around her neck, so he guessed she was staff. Given that she was in the holiday exhibit and now on the phone, he wondered if she was their liaison. He grinned. Now this trip to Chicago was panning out better than he thought.

Never mind the pang in his stomach that reminded him that that would be like cheating on Cassandra. He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, the girl downstairs was gone. But someone very familiar was heading toward the holiday exhibit. Tall, blonde, business suit, lanyard like the other girl.

 _Cassandra_.

Cassandra worked here? Oh God, he couldn't breathe.

He could hear Charlene talking to Flynn, "Something came up, so I'm going to have to leave you. But Cassandra and Eve will be here shortly to assist you."

 _Cassandra. Shit._

Flynn thanked Charlene and walked over to him. "Huh, so one of the ladies is named Cassandra. Heck of a coincidence, hey?"

Then he noticed his friend's face. "You okay, Stone?"

"It is Cassandra! I saw her downstairs. What am I going to do? She thinks you're me!"

* * *

Cassandra was waiting for Eve downstairs in the holiday exhibit. She looked up at the area where the special exhibit was, there were two men talking animatedly up there. And then she got a good look at the second one.

 _Oh my God. Jacob. Jacob was the one of the historians from the Mesopotamian collection. And he thinks I'm Eve._

She saw Eve walking toward her and hoped like hell that Jacob hadn't seen her. She grabbed Eve's arm and pulled her around a corner.

"Cassandra, what the hell?"

"Eve, he's here!"

"Who's here?"

"Jacob! He's one of the historians on the special exhibit. And he thinks I'm you! Oh no."


	3. Chapter 3

"Stone, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Plus we'll have to fill in Ezekiel . . . ."

"Yeah, but he'll go along with it. Probably will think it's hilarious. All of the others will be local hires, won't know the difference."

"What about our badges?"

"I asked Charlene when you were filling out your paperwork. The visitor badges will only have our names on them. And I don't think she really paid attention to who was who when we introduced ourselves. We'll just swap badges."

"I don't know if I can do this, Stone."

"Please Flynn, she already thinks you're me. It'll be easier. And maybe it'll be so awkward in person that it'll be easier to break it off.

Flynn sighed. "Jacob . . . ."

"Look, it's only gonna be for three weeks. I'll take both shifts in residence and you can have my shift over in Boston in the Egypt one. I know you've been dyin' to have it. I'll break up with her after you leave and you won't have to deal with the aftermath."

Flynn sighed. "But you will."

"I know, but it's my mess. Please Flynn."

"I think you're making a big mistake, but alright, fine. For you."

"Thank you Flynn."

* * *

"Wait, run this by me again? You want me to pretend to be you as long as they're here?"

"Yes."

"But how will we do our jobs? We can't do each other's."

"That's not a problem, Jacob doesn't know what I do. So I can present myself as liaison and you can be the pr director. I'll be working with them most of the time, you'll hardly have to interact with them. And we can head people off before they use our names. And our badges only have our titles on the outside."

"But I can't . . .won't Jacob know I'm not you?"

"We never really discussed personal things, honestly. Just art and science and well, so you won't have to worry about messing up personal details. Just be you. You won't have to see them much."

"Well, I mean . . .won't Jacob want to take you to dinner or something? You're kinda dating."

"Right, well I mean . . . ."

Eve shook her head. "Well, he is good looking. I like a man who wears a bow tie."

"Eve . . . ."

"What? You want to break up with him anyway, right?"

Cassandra sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So hey, it won't hurt me to have dinner with a nice man. And okay, then you break up with him after he goes home and no one is the wiser, right?"

"Yeah."

"By the way," Eve said as they made their way toward the stairs. "The other one is really good looking. Maybe you could hit it off with him and problem solved."

Cassandra shook her head, but as they got closer, she did notice the shorter of the two men looked a little shy. Kinda how she felt right now. But when he looked up she almost gasped at his eyes. The kind of blue she could get lost in for days. And while he'd been looking at Eve (and really who wouldn't), he suddenly met her eyes and she swore he gasped too.

The two sets of people were staring at each other for a few moments, Cassandra noticing Jacob was staring at Eve with admiration. Of course he was, he thought she was the one he was in a relationship with. And Eve was doing a very good job of looking love struck herself. Which annoyed Cassandra more than she wanted to admit. She swallowed hard against her heart break.

And then the man whose name she didn't know spoke. "Hi, we're from the Metropolitan Foundation. I'm um," he cleared his throat. "I'm Flynn Carsen and this is Jacob Stone."

"Cassandra . . . ." Jacob said looking at Eve.

Eve broke into one of her most charming smiles. "I feel like I should hug you, but maybe it's not a good time. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

Cassandra did a really good job of pretending to be surprised. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" asked the man who said his name was Flynn, also looking confused.

"Oh, she's the one I told you about Flynn." Jacob said.

"Oh right, the girl on the Internet."

"Oh, so this is the guy . . . ."Cassandra said. Then cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'm Eve Baird, I'll be your liaison from the museum. And this is Cassandra Cillian, she's our pr director."

"Nice to meet ya Cassandra and Eve," said the shorter man, his accent sounding a bit Texan to Cassandra's ears.

He went to shake Eve's hand and he looked a little puzzled afterward. Which she wondered if she looked the same way as she shook Jacob's hand. And felt absolutely nothing. No spark, no nothing. There was nothing between them at all. And that made her heart break even more.

But then she shook Flynn's hand. And his blue eyes flew to hers, he had to have felt it too because he quickly took his hand back. It was like a little current between them. What she'd expected from Jacob, she felt from this man she didn't know at all.

Jacob and Eve were now chatting as if they'd known each other forever. And it was starting to really annoy Cassandra. She'd gotten herself into this mess, but Eve didn't have to play her part so perfectly.

* * *

Stone was boiling. Flynn had been so reluctant to do this, but now he was laying on the charm with Cassandra. And Cassandra was falling for it hook, line and sinker. And the worst part was that Jacob realized now that she and he didn't even have the tiniest bit of spark. Nothing. Nothing at all when he touched her.

Shouldn't lovers feel something when they touched? Even if they'd never really been lovers. Now he knew how Henry VIII felt when Anne of Cleves innocently didn't understand his overtures.

But the redhead. Now there was someone interesting, when he'd touched her, he'd certainly felt something. Even though she was currently glaring at their respective co-workers. She probably wanted to get to work. And he actually did too.

"Why don't you and I get started and we'll leave the lovebirds alone for a little bit?" He asked her kindly.

She looked relieved. Which seemed like an odd thing to him, but maybe she was just uncomfortable with the show and wanted to get to work.

"Sounds great, now exactly where did you want the wall?"

* * *

Jacob was having a far better time than he had expected. Cassandra had left a while ago to get back to her job, having made plans with Flynn for dinner that night. Jacob had thought he'd have to coach Flynn but they seemed smitten. Which should have hurt. It was supposed to hurt.

But instead he found himself captivated by the pretty redheaded Eve. She was everything he'd thought Cassandra was. And she had a laugh that was a delight to hear. It was like he'd known her all his life. And although she'd seemed almost annoyed when she'd first met them as soon as she was away from Flynn, she'd turned into this ray of sunshine. Odd, his friend usually made people happy but apparently he rubbed Eve the wrong way.

Maybe Chicago wasn't such a bad idea after all. Flynn could keep Cassandra occupied and he'd get to know Eve better.

* * *

Cassandra was really enjoying Flynn's company. She'd initially hated the way Eve and Jacob had seemed to immediately click. And she'd bristled when they'd made dinner plans. But as she thought about it, Jacob just wasn't working for her. In person he seemed sweet, but not really her style. A bit too bouncy, a bit too exhausting. And there had been no spark, no attraction at all.

Her annoyance with his clicking with her friend seemed to make him rub her the wrong way. This man that she'd only a couple of weeks ago had thought herself in love with.

Maybe Eve had been right the whole time. She'd just been fooling herself.

Now Flynn . . . he was soft spoken, maybe a bit shy. But his beautiful eyes had depth and intelligence. And when he talked to her, he maintained eye contact. He was fascinating and he seemed fascinated by her.

Whereas Jacob only had eyes for Eve. Which she supposed made sense. He thought she was the one he'd been talking to for so very long.

But shouldn't lovers know each other no matter what?

And why was her heart suddenly drawing her toward the other man?

Which is why when Flynn came over and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner since his co-worker was now suddenly occupied, she said yes.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I've added quotation marks to help indicate who is who. Also this story was inspired by the movie "Christmas in Boston" which airs tomorrow afternoon (Dec 16) on ABCFamily, check your local listings. If you haven't seen it, it's not necessary to follow this story as only certain plot elements are used.

* * *

'Eve' was laughing and Jacob thought that he'd really never heard a sound that lovely in his life. She'd suggested deep dish pizza for dinner and they'd had an amazing time over their meal. Such an amazing time that he'd only dwelled on how Flynn's date with 'Cassandra' was going once or twice.

 _Ugh, now it's in my mind. Flynn's probably making a mess of it, honestly. Talking a mile a minute about Egyptian hieroglyphics and totally ruining everything. But then again, isn't that you wanted? Cassandra to get turned off so you wouldn't have to be the one to break up with her?_

"Flynn?" 'Eve' was talking and for a minute, he was wondering why on Earth she was calling him by his co-worker's name. "Hey? Earth to Flynn?"

 _Oh right, she thinks I'm Flynn._ He was going to have to figure out how exactly to tell her what his real name was. Because he really wanted this girl to be looking him in the eyes and calling him Jacob. _Damn it. Such a mess._

"Sorry, Eve, I was drifting. Kinda wondering how Stone was making out with your friend. He's a bit, uh, awkward. Probably why he had an online relationship in the first place. Though I kinda don't see why someone as confident as uh what was her name?"

"Cassandra."

"Right, Cassandra would need to online date."

'Eve' shrugged but he noticed she looked a little uncomfortable. Probably didn't want to be talking about her friend's love life. "She's a very busy person, probably easier for her. I guess."

"Sorry, that made you uncomfortable, none of your business right?"

She nodded, looking a little relieved. "Were you finished? I don't think I could eat another bite myself."

"I'm done. Let's get the check."

They'd taken her car from the museum to the restaurant, Flynn having taken the rental car. Jacob hoped that Flynn would be back in the morning to take him to work. And then shook his head, he wasn't even going to entertain that possibility. His 'Cassandra' wasn't that type of a girl. Not on a first date, even if they'd known each other a long time. But then the 'Cassandra' he'd met seemed nothing like the girl he knew online. He kinda felt a bit . . .swindled actually. He'd heard of girls pretending to be smarter and more beautiful than they actually were. But a beautiful girl like that pretending to be a shy studious one? A little weird.

But 'Eve' . . . he smiled over at her as she adjusted her scarf against the elements.

"I should let you go home," he sighed.

She nodded but she seemed as reluctant as he was. "Let me give you a ride back to your hotel. We'll see each other tomorrow right?"

"Yes and for a while, actually. We'll be here setting up until the week before Christmas."

"Of course, the exhibit opens on the 28th. So you'll be gone then or are you taking the first shift?"

"Well, I'm off for Christmas week, probably back home to visit the folks. But I'm actually taking the first two shifts, so I'm here for at least 12 weeks. Stone's crazy about this exhibit out in Boston that we also set up, so I offered to take two so he can go there. So he's gone by Christmas. And knowing him, I'll be here the whole 18."

"He'll be gone by Christmas," 'Eve's voice was sad for a moment and he looked at her strangely. Then she shook her head and looked at him. "Oh, I hope you're not in a hotel for that long!"

"Nope, we'll be out of the hotel by the end of the week. They'll put us up in an apartment. And then Jones and Stone will leave and I'll have it for myself."

"Well, that's good then," 'Eve' said, though she seemed oddly quiet as they came to her car.

But by the time they'd reached his hotel, she was back to her usual charming self. She pulled into the drive outside and they stopped and awkwardly looked at each other. Jacob leaned forward, looking into her eyes. For a moment he was tempted to kiss her, especially when she nervously licked her lips. But a honk from the car behind them and his conflicted feelings about 'Cassandra' caused him to move back.

"Good night Eve, see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Tomorrow. Good night, Flynn."

* * *

Cassandra concentrated on the road on her drive home, trying very hard to get both 'Flynn' and 'Jacob' out of her mind, or at least until she got home. Her building wasn't far from the museum, so it was a short drive. Soon she was home, kicking off her shoes and collapsing on her sofa.

Her head was a turmoil of conflicting and confusing feelings. What a day! First she'd finally met the man of her dreams (or delusions) only to find out that she wasn't attracted to him at all and in fact found him a little bit annoying. Sweet and cute in his own way, but not as sweet and cute as his co-worker. And that made 'Flynn' a completely unexpected wrench in her plans. As was the way Eve and 'Jacob' had just clicked. Which was both a relief and an irritation at the same time.

She wondered how that date had gone. She'd gotten too caught up in her conversation with' Flynn' to look at her phone, but now as she checked there wasn't a single text from Eve.

"Seriously?"

She'd expected to hear something. If the date had gone horrible, she was sure Eve would have been yelling at her about it. And by now . . . well she supposed it was only 8pm. 'Jacob' would have taken Eve on a real date as opposed to just dinner like she and 'Flynn' had had.

Cassandra banged her head on the back of her sofa. She really didn't know what to do or how to feel. This . . .sucked. If anyone still used that expression. She'd fancied herself in love with 'Jacob' for so long but now . . . .

Now she felt a powerful attraction to 'Flynn Carsen' and not to 'Jacob Stone'. 'Jacob' had barely seemed to acknowledge her, having eyes only for the woman he thought she was. Whereas 'Flynn' . . .there had been something odd about when he'd first met Eve, but after that, his attention had been almost fully on her.

And that was new. Men didn't notice her, at least not when Eve was in the room. It wasn't Eve's fault, she didn't do it on purpose. Eve was a dear friend and didn't try to steal men away. It just happened. Her beauty but even more than that her confidence drew in people like flies. The men came for her beauty, they stayed because of her charm and confidence. And 'Jacob' was going to be just as attracted as anyone else.

And what was Cassandra to do? What could she do? Besides break up with him as soon as he left town and cry over what could have been into a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

She looked down at her phone. Still no text from Eve so finally she gave in and sent one herself.

About a half hour later, Eve finally replied.

 _He's absolutely wonderful. A little weird, but it's so cute on him. Kinda wish I could tell him who I am._

Cassandra glared at the phone. Just fantastic. Damn conflicted feelings. 'Jacob' was supposed to be having the wonderful time with her.

 _Glad you're having fun._

 _Hey, this is your mess. I'm just enjoying a handsome man's company on your behalf. And you went out to dinner with one yourself. How did that go?_

Cassandra couldn't help grinning. _Not bad._

 _Well then, maybe it'll work out well for both of us. A Christmas fling as it were. Hey, gotta go, Jacob's taking me ice skating._

 _It's a week night!_

But her response went unanswered by Eve. Cassandra tossed her phone to the other side of the sofa.

A Christmas fling.

Yeah, right. Eve might do things like that, but Cassandra Cillian did not.

And despite her best efforts, Cassandra began to cry. This was all her fault. If she'd just corrected her mistake in the first place none of this would happen. She wouldn't have lost 'Jacob' to her friend. And she wouldn't be feeling so angry, heartbroken and empty. And she knew she'd lost him the minute she'd lied.

This was not what she did, she needed to fix this. She needed to tell them. But how?

* * *

In his hotel room, Jacob was having his own conflicts. He'd initially been irritated that he'd knocked on Flynn's door when he got back to find no answer. But when he got back to his own room, his thoughts kept dwelling on that last moment in the car, 'Eve's lips and her big blue eyes.

He growled at himself. Why did it feel like cheating on 'Cassandra'? Especially since, thanks to him, 'Cassandra' was currently cheating on him. And hell for all he really knew, 'Cassandra' had dated other people all this time. He certainly could have, had he chosen to. Not that he had, but certainly an online relationship wasn't binding.

And it hurt. He'd lost 'Cassandra' the moment he lied to her. He needed to face the consequences of his actions. This was not him. This was not what he did.

And he liked 'Eve'. Liked her a lot. Wouldn't mind spending the next few months getting to know her.

That is if she didn't react with disgust when she found out that he'd been playing this stupid game, lying to her about what his name was.

 _Shit._ 'Eve' had been the one factor he hadn't counted on. He hadn't counted on liking her as much as he did. And on wanting to see more of her. He'd be here for months, it would be more than a fling and maybe if things went really well, they could work something out. With his job, he could be based anywhere between gigs. . . .

 ** _Jacob Stone_** _. You haven't even told this girl your name. Stop it. This is 'Cassandra' all over again. Giving your heart away just like that. And this time it's a thousand times worse._

 _You need to tell her the truth and take what you deserve as punishment._

* * *

Not too long before midnight, Jacob decided that a mini bar raid would be his best bet in getting sleep that night. He was coming back from getting ice when he saw Flynn in the hallway about to open his door.

"Well, apparently **my** date went well," Jacob said, surprising himself with how bitter his tone sounded. Flynn turned around and Jacob noticed his tie had been hastily redone and there was lipstick on his collar.

Flynn blushed a bit, "you got yourself into this mess."

"Yeah and I see you're reaping the benefits."

"Yes, and how was your date with the charming Ms. Baird?"

Jacob froze and then tilted his head. "It went really well. Not as well as yours obviously did. She dropped me off, no kiss, it was just dinner. But . . . ."

"You really like her?"

"Yeah. And you really like Cassandra."

"Yeah."

They both sighed then looked at each other speaking at once.

"I have to tell them . . ."

"You can't tell them . . ."

"Wait, what?" Jacob asked. "I thought you were anti this whole deception!"

"I was. But look, Stone, Cassandra knows I'm leaving before Christmas. She told me she wants to live a little. All she wants is a fling."

"A fling? What is with this girl? She's totally . . . " Jacob shook his head. "Okay, so have a fling with her as Flynn Carsen. I'm kinda done with her."

"But don't you see? That's going to ruin everything, Stone! She'll be angry and it's Christmas. You'll ruin her holiday. Wasn't the whole point of this little charade to not ruin her holiday?"

Jacob sighed. "Yes."

"So let's stick to the plan old friend. I leave, you break up with her online."

"Yes, but I'm stuck here for months with Eve! I can't lie to her for months!"

"You should have thought that through. After I'm gone, tell her the truth. Won't ruin her holiday either."

Stone growled but Flynn had him. There was nothing he could do now. He'd set this plan in motion. And he couldn't ruin both women's holidays. He just couldn't. Especially 'Eve's, she seemed so into the season.

"Damnit."

"Lies my friend, lies. Let's learn from this. Good night, Jacob."

"Yeah, good night."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Cassandra had planned to go straight to 'Flynn' and confess the truth about her identity to him. But she'd gotten caught up with some work first thing and the next thing she knew it was mid morning. She knew she should check in with the crew anyway, but as she was leaving her desk area, Eve came out of her office and asked her to come in.

Cassandra hadn't really been looking forward to this confrontation. But she sighed and shut the door behind her.

"So how did **my** date go last night?"

"Hey, you're the one who begged me to switch places with you. And it went fantastic! Jacob is so much fun. Like I said, he's weird but it's so cute on him. And by the way, how was your own date with the handsome Mr. Carsen?"

Cassandra blushed a little. She was used to talking about these things with Eve, even though she didn't really date much. So it came out. "Not as well as yours did, I suppose. But it was really nice. We had dinner and we talked, he's sweet and such a gentleman. I dropped him off at his hotel and I was home by 8." Eve raised her eyebrows. "What? It was just dinner. Though for a moment, it looked like he wanted to kiss me. But the stupid car behind me honked."

"So you really like him?"

Cassandra reluctantly nodded. "I do. And I don't think . . .in the flesh Jacob isn't right for me. But Eve! We have to tell them! We can't keep lying to them. Flynn's gonna be here for months and I might have a real chance with him. I can't blow it with lies."

"This is why we can't tell them, Cass. We'll ruin everything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, I know you're a romantic who wants to settle down. But all Jacob thinks this is is a Christmas fling and he's okay with it."

"He's okay with it! Oh my God, he totally isn't . . . . Well, have a fling with him as Eve Baird. I don't care."

"But . . .why ruin it? He's only gonna be here for 3 weeks. Then he's off to Boston and around the world. It's back to status quo. Let him have a happy memory of you before you end things. He doesn't get the chance to meet people much he told me. Don't ruin it for him. He meant something to you once."

"But Flynn . . . ."

"And what if Flynn is put off by you lying to him? Then what? All of this for nothing. Cass, look you got yourself into this mess. And you begged me to help you."

Cassandra sighed frustrated. "I did."

"So stick to the plan. Enjoy yourself Cassandra. Tis the season for romance. Live a little. And besides, would you want to mess up their holidays?"

"No and . . . ." Cassandra shook her head. She was stuck and there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe 'Flynn' would understand. That's all she could hope for. And really, if 'Jacob' had been what she expected . . . .

Well, he was heading off to Boston in three weeks and it would be back to long distance anyway. And they'd probably drift apart. Maybe she should just enjoy 'Flynn' for these three weeks and then take her punishment. Maybe he'd understand or maybe he'd not want anything to do with her. But she'd at least have this memory of the way his blue eyes lit up when he talked about something he was passionate about. And . . . .

"Alright, fine, I'll stick to the plan. It's only three weeks right?"

Eve grinned and jumped up to walk her out. "It'll be okay, I promise."

* * *

It was after lunch before Cassandra got up the nerve to check on how the special exhibit was coming along. The workers had put the temporary wall up over night but not much else had gotten done. Well as she approached she realized that a whole lot of tape was on the floor marking out where various items would go.

'Flynn' and 'Jacob' were having a spirited discussion in the middle of the room. When they saw her approach, 'Jacob' looked happy to see her which raised her spirits a little bit. 'Flynn' had been looking annoyed but when he saw her approach his expression changed. And while 'Jacob' looked happy to see her, 'Flynn' looked like he'd been waiting all day just to catch a glimpse of her. And she couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh, so glad you're here, Eve!" 'Jacob' said and she turned her smile on him. "We've been having quite the time with the electrical setup and you're just the person to talk to. The handy man hasn't been particularly handy."

"Oh . . . ." And Cassandra realized that while 'Flynn's happiness was personal, 'Jacob's was strictly business. She tried not to sigh. "Well yes, the handy man is only good with quick jobs. Would it be easier if I call the electrician and then have you discuss your issue directly with him?"

'Flynn' nodded. "Yes, that would be perfect, Eve. You wanna handle it . . ." And 'Flynn' stuttered suddenly which was odd. "Stone, want to handle it, Stone?"

'Jacob' had been staring at 'Flynn' strangely and then shook his head as if he'd also been beset by confusion. "Yes, of course, uh Carsen."

Cassandra suddenly realized that she'd have to use her real name on the phone. Luckily the cell phone dead zone gave her a perfect excuse. "Uh, let me step over to the windows and see if I can get them directly on the phone. Sometimes I have to play phone tag with their secretary."

Luckily neither 'Flynn' nor 'Jacob' followed her over to the windows and she was able to get through to the electrician and waved 'Jacob' over. His hand brushed hers as she handed him the phone and again she felt nothing. And she tried not to look too disappointed.

'Flynn' grinned at her when she returned. "Startin' to think you'd never come back to visit us," he teased. And there it was the slow Southern drawl she'd expected 'Jacob' to have. So odd. But then she'd heard of people purposely losing their accents to get ahead. It was very likely 'Jacob' had done just that. At any rate that drawl did something to her and she ended up trying to fight off a blush.

"I got caught up in work."

He nodded his head looking around. "Yeah, know how that goes."

He was starting to say something else when a younger man came into the exhibit area, barely looking up from the iPad in his hand.

"Stone, mate, I need you to come look at this."

* * *

Jacob started to freak out. 'Eve' was staring wide-eyed between him and Jones. He and Flynn had told Ezekiel last night about what was going on and the boy had had a good laugh. But obviously he forgot.

Jones was staring innocently at him and at his glare, realization began to dawn across the younger man's features.

"Oh, geez, my mistake Carsen. I don't know what I was thinking."

Jacob turned to 'Eve'. "This is our assistant Ezekiel Jones. He just got back from Australia, the jet lag is bad this time around."

Ezekiel smiled his most charming smile at her. "Yeah, you know not even sure of my name today."

'Eve' nodded, seeming to believe it, then Ezekiel looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, right. This is Eve Baird, she's the museum liaison."

"Huh, interesting." Ezekiel said before offering his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Eve."

"Nice to meet you too. Sounds like you have something urgent to discuss, so I'm going to go see if Jacob is done with my phone and leave you to it. I'll see you later, Flynn?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, lookin' forward to it. Bye Eve."

She smiled back and made her way toward Flynn on the other side of the room.

"Jesus, Jones." Jacob growled as soon as 'Eve' was out of hearing range.

"Hey, look this isn't my game. I'm just doing my job."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Yeah, for once. So what's the big emergency?"

* * *

"Did you get your problem sorted, Jacob?" Cassandra asked him politely noticing he'd hung up her phone.

"Hmm, yes, yes. Thank you." His reply was somewhat absent and he was looking off toward the exhibit.

"Alright then, if I could just get my phone back I'll let you get back to work then. Your assistant seemed to have something urgent."

"Oh right," 'Jacob' handed her the phone and then looked back over toward 'Flynn' and their assistant. He sighed. "Everything is urgent with Jones. Probably got a thumbs down on some social media."

He left without even so much as a goodbye or even a look. And Cassandra rolled her eyes at his retreating back. In person, 'Jacob' really was trying his hardest to turn her off. 'Flynn' seemed fond of him and he certainly was completely charming with Eve. But he treated her as a bit of an afterthought.

Well, he thought he knew Eve. Cassandra mused. 'Flynn' was obviously more than a colleague, the two men seemed like very close friends. So maybe that was it? He was the type that was closed off until he knew you. That certainly would explain why he chose an online relationship. And what he'd told Eve about not getting to meet people.

And in his eyes, she was simply a museum employee. She was there to help him do his job and nothing more. He was polite enough most of the time but that was it. And she supposed that 'Flynn' was probably normally that way too. 'Flynn' had treated Eve politely but that was it.

No, 'Flynn' saw her as special. The way she'd wanted 'Jacob' to look at her only a couple of days ago.

And now . . . .

Now she didn't know which way was up. 'Flynn' threw a complete wrench in all of her plans. She liked him. Wanted to get to know him better. Would have loved to have dated him.

But she was lying to him. And the guilt was going to eat her alive.

She was going to have to start putting him at arm's length. Friendly but not too close. So when the truth came out, she wouldn't hurt either of them.

Except . . .she turned to look at him and as if sensing her eyes on him, he looked up over the iPad and winked at her, she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to do that.


	6. Chapter 6

It was late Friday afternoon and Cassandra was out of sorts. One week and her whole world had been turned upside down. All because of one little mistake on the Internet. If she'd only explained to 'Jacob' that she'd sent the wrong photo, they'd have laughed about it at the time. And she and 'Jacob' would have realized there was just no attraction there. And she'd be free to see where her attraction to his friend went.

But instead she'd lied. And she was having a really hard time keeping 'Flynn' at arm's length. He'd asked her out a couple of times this week and she'd made some excuse each time. However, she'd not been able to keep the genuine regret out of her voice. And so she knew he was encouraged.

Adding to the complications, an hour ago Eve had popped by her desk with the news that 'Flynn', 'Jacob' and Ezekiel had gotten their apartment. In Cassandra's building.

Of course, it was in her building. She should have known actually. She was pretty sure after Eve told her the number that it had been the one used by the last temporary exhibit crew.

So now 'Flynn' was her neighbor. Perfect. Now it was going to be even more difficult and awkward when the truth came out.

She wished sometimes she was more like Eve. Eve seemed to be having no trouble being romanced by 'Jacob'. Oh Eve kept saying she really wished she could tell the truth. But she wasn't letting that stop her from having a good time. And Cassandra was beginning to suspect that Eve had slept with 'Jacob' or if not was very close to doing so.

And while that should have broken her heart, it just filled her with rage and frustration. She was angry at both of them for having a good time at her expense.

She could hear Eve's words in her head all of the time. Why not give 'Flynn' a nice memory? That's all Eve was doing with 'Jacob'. He'd have a lovely memory of his time in Chicago before he moved on. Why not just live in the moment too? Even if he hated her later, he'd at least leave her with a memory.

She'd never done something like this before. She'd carefully planned out everything in her life from where she'd gone to college to where she'd ended up working, where she lived, what she ate every day, what she wore, where she went. Whom she dated.

Which, of course, was why she didn't date that often. And even the online relationship with 'Jacob' hadn't been part of her plan.

'Flynn' certainly wasn't a part of any plan at all. And she had no idea what to do.

Except here she was in her kitchen making sandwiches. She doubted the boys had had any time to go shopping. And who knew how the kitchen was set up for them in the first place. They shouldn't exist solely on take out, even though 'Flynn' had mentioned his assistant practically lived on pizza.

It was the right neighborly thing to do. 'Jacob' had meant something to her, so even though they had no future, she could thank him for all those nights with dinner tonight.

* * *

"Seriously? You're both goin' out?" Jacob asked.

"I have a date with the charming Cassandra," Flynn said adjusting his tie in the hallway mirror.

"Again? That's every damn night this week. "

Flynn stopped and looked at him. "This was your idea. And you don't even seem to care for her. But if you want . . . ."

Jacob sighed. "No, I really don't . . . .look I'm just frustrated, alright? I don't care if you go out with Cassandra specifically."

Flynn nodded. "You haven't been seeing Eve?"

Jacob shook his head. "She's been busy. I'd say she was blowing me off but she always looks so sad about it. Don't know what's up with her. But I suppose this time of year. . . . And honestly I feel so guilty lyin' to her. And why you don't feel guilty is beyond me."

"But I do . . . ."

Ezekiel groaned, running a hand through his hair and grabbing his coat. "Okay, I've had enough of the Very Special Episode here. I'm going clubbing with this very lovely young bird I met in the gift shop and her friends. See ya. Don't wait up."

"Ah youth," Flynn sighed as Jones shut the door.

"Yeah, says the guy who is going on a hot date with my . . .well whatever she was."

"Stone . . . ." Flynn stared at him. "I like Cassandra but if this is going to keep bothering you. . ."

"It's not . . .I just hate lyin' to those girls. Too much of my past, you know?"

"I do know," Flynn took a deep breath. "Do you want to tell them?"

Jacob looked pained. "I can't. I can't ruin her Christmas. I owe her at least a memory. So go, go have a good time. "

Flynn nodded. "Why don't you try calling Eve? Find some happiness while you can Jacob. Life's way too short."

Jacob shrugged. Flynn looked a little sad as he left, putting his hand briefly on Jacob's shoulder. But Jacob could hear Flynn whistling in the hallway as the door shut behind him.

Jacob thought about calling 'Eve' but decided against it. He looked around the apartment. It had been furnished simply but enough to meet their needs. There was a stocked kitchen, but sadly no food in it save for what little snacks had been in their hotel rooms. So some soda, bottled water, beer and a leftover pizza in the refrigerator and some chips, pretzels and a box of cereal in the pantry.

He sighed. He didn't feel like finding a grocery store this time of night. He really didn't want to continue living off of restaurant food forever. Maybe he'd ask 'Eve' tomorrow if she could give him directions to a decent store. And he was going to have to figure out getting another rental car if Flynn was going to be taking theirs every night. He groaned. There was a stack of takeout menus on the table that the service had left. He'd probably just go through that in a bit.

He instead flopped on the sofa and started flipping through the channels. He'd just settled on a cooking competition show when the doorbell rang.

Odd. Probably the wrong apartment.

He answered the door anyway to find 'Eve' standing there with a tray in her hands.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "I brought you boys dinner."

Jacob grinned. She was so sweet. "Well, it's just me tonight, but I am so glad to see food. Wanna come in?"

'Eve''s smile seemed to falter for just a second but then she nodded and came in.

* * *

Just great, Cassandra thought. No buffer with the others. But there's no harm in feeding him, is there? Or being friends.

"They left you all alone?"

'Flynn' looked a little annoyed. "Jones is out clubbing and Jacob's out with Cassandra. Again." His tone sounded bitter.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, no it's nothing." 'Flynn' said. "Just feeling a bit abandoned. But I'm real glad to see you. And food that might not be takeout."

"It's simple, sandwiches and salad. But I figured you wouldn't have gone shopping yet."

"Nope. I was gonna ask you tomorrow to recommend somewhere. I like to cook. But of course, my roommates keep taking the car."

Cassandra's mouth moved faster than her brain. "I could take you tomorrow and you can cook for me." She blushed realizing what she'd done. But 'Flynn's face lit up and she couldn't take it back.

"Wanna stay and eat with me? I mean unless you had plans."

She knew she should have said no. But she couldn't. And so she smiled and said, "I can stay."

* * *

Dinner turned into watching a Christmas movie on tv. Which mostly ended up not getting watched as they started talking.

Jacob was sure that it was getting quite late but he really didn't want 'Eve' to go. Her conversation was as lovely as her laughter was. She was bright and passionate and utterly adorable. Everything that he'd hoped to find in 'Cassandra' but ultimately didn't.

They'd come to a lull in the conversation but neither of them was uncomfortable. They let the silence set over them and Jacob found himself watching her. She smoothed her skirt and shifted to a more comfortable position on the couch. That position brought her even closer to him. His arm had already been draped over the back of the couch and he wouldn't have to do much to curl his arm around her. She noticed his watching her and met his eyes. She licked her lips, possibly a nervous habit, but it had made him want to kiss her the other night in the car. Now tonight there was no one to honk at them, no public to see. And 'Eve' shifted closer, as if drawn in by whatever magic spell had fallen over them both.

The arm on the back of the couch went around her shoulders and she smiled and shifted even closer, turning so that she could return his embrace, her arm going around his shoulders. No mistaking this at all.

And she was smiling when their lips met.

'Eve' was sweeter than candy, better than whiskey. The rest of the world disappeared, all there was was 'Eve' and her kisses.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Jacob was pretty sure he could have spent decades getting lost in 'Eve' but suddenly there was a noise. It broke the spell and 'Eve' jumped away from him.

Flynn was standing there, a bit red and quite a bit mussed from his own adventures.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can umm, I'll just go into my room. Carry on."

'Eve' seemed to turn much redder than he would have expected and she almost looked pained when she looked at Flynn.

"Sweetheart? You okay?" He asked gently when Flynn had fled the room.

"I . . .um. . .it's late . . .I should probably go."

"Eve . . . ."

"No, it's um just late. I'll call about um shopping."

And 'Eve' was scurrying out the door before Jacob could even try to stop her.

* * *

Safely inside her own apartment, Cassandra was taking deep breaths to calm herself. She'd done exactly what she hadn't wanted to do. And yet, as the evening went on, moving into his arms and kissing him had seemed the most natural thing in the world.

He was an amazing kisser. She could have stayed in his arms, kissing him until New Year's. From the way he was kissing her and the slightly kiss drunk expression on his face when 'Jacob' had come in, 'Flynn' had felt the same way.

She shouldn't have left him. It was just 'Jacob's arrival that had reminded her that she was conning 'Flynn'. Well, omitting an important detail at least. That kiss was as real as things got.

She wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to go back downstairs, ring the bell and kiss him until he didn't care what her name really was.

 _Damn 'Jacob' and his bad timing_.

She wiped angry tears from her face and realized that she could hear her phone chiming.

Several worried text messages from 'Flynn'. And one from Eve that she was choosing to ignore right now.

She took a deep breath. She was in so deep with 'Flynn'. She shouldn't do this to him. But she couldn't stay away. Not after this.

 _Live a little Cassandra Cillian. Have one memory of the time that you threw caution to the wind. And maybe he'll forgive you at the end._

She scrolled to the end of the messages.

 _I'm okay. It was having an audience. I suddenly felt like my dad came in. I feel silly._

Seconds later an emoji of a smile came back through. _I get that. So you're okay? Because I don't regret kissing you._

 _I'm okay. And no regrets here either. But it is late and I had a long day. Is 10am okay? You could come up, I mentioned we're neighbors but I'm in 210. But not tonight. Tomorrow morning._

 _You're no fun Eve. ;) Alright tomorrow, 10. Night Eve._

 _Night Flynn._


	7. Chapter 7

A week had passed and Jacob had seen 'Eve' as much as both of their busy schedules would allow. Especially given the fact that Ezekiel and Jacob found themselves shouldering more and more work as Flynn's lunch hours with 'Cassandra' often became afternoons.

Jacob supposed that was good for Flynn, his old friend had always wanted a woman to be his adventure buddy. 'Cassandra' was certainly proving to be that person, though occasionally she fussed over 'Eve' in a way that seemed a little bit off. But then, he'd tried very hard to head off any idea of the two couples double dating and avoided 'Cassandra' as much as he could.

And 'Eve' seemed to have this aversion to Flynn, so that made it all the easier. Both women seemed to like Ezekiel, although both Jacob and Flynn were careful to limit their interactions. One of Jones' best qualities was honesty and it was proving difficult to keep him from just blurting out the truth. Luckily work and his ability to create a social circle no matter where he went kept him busy.

Today Jacob was alone in the apartment. He'd left 'Eve' with a long lingering kiss at her door last night and hadn't heard from her yet this morning. Flynn and 'Cassandra' were off skiing in Wisconsin for the weekend. Ezekiel had gone into work. It was actually not uncommon, Ezekiel liked to work during the weekends claiming he got more done without them bossing him around. Ezekiel also had an eye on a couple of girls in the gift shop, so Jacob figured it was probably a mix of business and pleasure with Jones.

Right about the time he was considering texting 'Eve', he heard a knock on the door. He grinned, knowing that 'Eve' was the most likely person to be outside his door. She looked a little bit like a Christmas elf in a green dress over a white blouse and red and white striped leggings. On her head was headband with reindeer antlers and in her hand was a Santa hat.

"Mornin'," he smiled. "You look festive. What's up?"

She put the Santa hat on his head before he could protest. "We're going to go buy you a Christmas tree!"

"But Evie," Jacob protested. "It'll only be up for a week and a half then."

She crinkled her nose at him. "So? Never too late for a Christmas tree. Come on then." She started to grab his arm but he stopped her. "What now?" She asked with an impatient huff. On anyone else it might have annoyed him, but on her it was adorable.

"Wallet? Phone? Coat? Give me a minute." He laughed.

"Right, right. I need my coat too. I totally forgot. I'll go get mine and meet you downstairs, I assume Jacob took the car again?"

He nodded and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, 5 minutes. And leave the hat on!"

"Yes, darlin'."

* * *

Cassandra enjoyed tree shopping with 'Flynn'. There was a chill and the smell of snow in the air and he held her hand as they went from tree to tree to find the perfect one. He seemed to be willing to take whatever she suggested, so it was all up to her to find the right one.

Now they had it on a stand in the corner of his apartment. 'Flynn' was chuckling as he looked at it.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, we didn't get any decorations for it, so now it's gonna sit there all forlorn. "

She shook her head, laughing at him. "Silly, I have decorations. Come on, I need a hand carrying them. I rotate my theme tree every year, so you can use last year's gold theme."

"You rotate your theme every year, well of course you do." And 'Flynn' didn't say any more, he just followed her out the door.

White lights went on the tree first, followed by an assortment of gold ornaments, topped with a gold star at the top. Cassandra hung the last ornament on the tree and stepped back to make sure everything looked right.

'Flynn' was holding the gold garland that had been in the box.

"Oh right," she said. "We need to put that up too."

He smirked at her and walked closer, draping one end of it over her. "In a minute." Then he used the garland to pull her closer before planting one of his breathtaking kisses on her. When he kissed her like that, she forgot her own name, let alone that she was pretending to be someone else. When they broke for breath, she grabbed some of the garland and threw it over him. And before too long they were completely wrapped together in the garland and giggling.

"Maybe," she giggled, planting one last little kiss on his lips. "Maybe we'll just skip this garland."

* * *

It was Sunday evening and their plans had ended on Cassandra's sofa. Cassandra was on her back, her cardigan joining 'Flynn's shirt on the floor, leaving her in a camisole and him in a sleeveless tee shirt. He was carefully resting his weight on her as they kissed, one of his hands working its way up her thigh well under her skirt. Cassandra knew they really should stop, she just couldn't make love to him if he didn't know who she really was.

But the pleasure was intense and she knew that in all reality, had he known she was Cassandra and not Eve, she would have told him to take her to bed about five minutes ago. Panting, he'd broken free of her lips and was now kissing his way down her neck, the hand under her skirt even higher now, so very close to the edge of her panties.

He moaned softly as she sunk both of her hands in his hair. She moaned in return as he started sucking at her pulse point, letting herself be swept away.

"Flynn," she breathed.

And he froze.

* * *

She was looking at him with concern and Jacob slowly lifted his head from her neck. He'd gotten lost in the moment, in 'Eve's welcoming lips, in the way she'd been making him feel.

But he couldn't make love to her with someone else's name on her lips. If they ever slept together, she'd be calling out his name, his real name, and no one else's. Hearing his friend's name moaned like that was like a bucket of cold water on his arousal.

"Flynn?" she asked, now looking frightened. "Are you okay?"

"I'm . . . ." He settled for kissing her, but gently and sweetly, removing his hand from under her skirt. When the kiss ended, he moved off of her. "I'm sorry, we got carried away."

"We did, but I don't regret that. Do you?" She looked very upset now and he wanted to reassure her.

"No, no. But I think . . . ." He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. He wanted to tell her the truth. But right now . . . her lips swollen from his kisses, her hair in disarray, partly unclothed. . . he just couldn't do that to her. And he couldn't, **wouldn't** ruin her Christmas. He decided to tell her a half truth. He really wasn't a fast mover with women, well at least not since he'd embraced who he really was in the last decade or so. "I don't typically move this fast. And sweetheart, it's not you. I'm really really attracted to you."

"Oh," she nodded, her blue eyes wide. "I don't move this fast either. Honestly, it's been a really long time since . . . . Well anyway, you're probably right. We've only known each other for what 2 weeks?"

He nodded. "I know it feels like we've known each other an eternity. But darlin', we should take our time. I'll be here for weeks and if . . . ." _You don't hate me when the truth comes out_. "If things work out, I can relocate, I can make my home base anywhere."

That completely seemed to have taken her mind off the disappointment because her eyes lit up. "You'd do that?"

"If things work out, I just might."

She made an excited little noise and kissed him. But unlike the passionate kisses of earlier, it was sweet and gentle. He curled his arms around her, deciding that cuddling was a perfectly acceptable way of coming down from the earlier rush.

They were well on their way to losing themselves again, though this time in sweet kisses when her doorbell rang.

* * *

Cassandra grumbled but slipped out of 'Flynn's arms. She was so annoyed that she was interrupted that she didn't even think of the state of her clothes.

Until she saw Eve at the door. Eve looked a bit shocked, her eyes raking up and down, no doubt noting her lack of cardigan, the state of her hair and how her cami wasn't tucked into her skirt.

"Uh, Cassandra, what brings you by?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head toward the inside to indicate she had 'Flynn' over.

Eve cleared her throat. "Well I needed . . .actually can I talk to you **Cassandra**?"

'Flynn' was suddenly standing behind her, buttoning his shirt. "I'm, um, gonna go back to my place and let you ladies talk."

He gave her a peck on the lips and then hurried away. He'd mentioned having sisters, so she guessed he was used to giving women space.

'Flynn' being gone, Cassandra looked at Eve with annoyance but waved her hand and ushered her in.

"What?" Cassandra asked.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Eve asked.

"No! Not that it's any of your business."

Eve scoffed. "Not my business? You're using my name!"

"So what? You're sleeping with Jacob!"

Eve looked thunderstruck. "What the hell kinda girl do you think I am? I am **not** sleeping with him!"

"But you went away with him for the weekend."

"Yes, to ski! God! Not to say we haven't been having fun because we have." And a pleased smirk briefly crossed Eve's features. "But fun only goes so far. This is a romance, not a shack up. Jesus, Cassandra."

"But you kept calling it a fling!"

"Yeah, as in not a serious thing. Sex is serious business to me. And besides, I'm not sleeping with someone who thinks my name is Cassandra. That's just . . . ." And Eve shuddered. "What would you have done if Flynn called out 'Eve' in bed?"

"Oh God," Cassandra looked disgusted. "You're right. We . . .he stopped us tonight. Said he wanted to take his time getting to know me. But I think I probably would have freaked out had we gotten farther."

Eve's hand went to her face. "Cassandra . . . ."

"I know," Cassandra was nearly in tears. "We can't keep doing this."

"I just . . .Jacob is so sweet. And I really like him. I don't want to hurt him."

Cassandra nodded. "So is Flynn. I don't want to hurt either of them. But I will." She sank on her sofa. "What do we do?"

Eve sat next to her and took a deep breath. "We stick to the plan. It'll be okay, Red."

"But what about you? You like him. I'm hurting you too."

Eve shrugged. "I think there's a strong possibility that both of our chances with these guys are gonna be shot if they find out we lied. I do like him. But I'm really good at protecting myself. I knew there was an expiration on this. You, however . . . . You're such a sweetheart and you feel so deeply. You're already half in love with Flynn and you thought you were in love with Jacob."

Cassandra sighed, the tears back in her eyes. "I am falling for him. And he's gonna hate me."

"Either way, Cass, now or later, you might lose him. We need to just stick to the plan." Eve sighed. "And maybe they can forgive us eventually? I don't think Jacob is really in love with me. But I think Flynn has really strong feelings for you."

Cassandra hiccuped. "He said he'd consider making Chicago his home base . . . .Oh Eve."

Eve put an arm around her. "Let it play out. Don't ruin anyone's Christmas. And if Flynn is willing to move here on just a chance with you . . .well maybe he won't be able to stay away from you. Maybe he will forgive you."

"And Jacob?"

Eve chuckled. "He might come around too. If not, well, I had a really lovely time with him. And we both have fond memories to take with us."

Cassandra nodded. "So what did you come over here for anyway?"

Eve laughed and then her phone buzzed. "Hang on." She sent a text and then nodded. "Well, I came to see if you had any popcorn, because Jacob and I were gonna watch a movie. But Flynn's back downstairs and they decided to watch Big Trouble in Little China and honestly."

"What is it with men and that movie?"

"I don't know. But ice cream?"

"Perfect."


	8. Chapter 8

Time was running out, Jacob was well aware. Every morning the calendar mocked him. One day closer to Christmas, one day closer to having to tell 'Eve' the truth. One day closer to losing her when he'd just found her. The problem was as much as he knew he should be slowly letting 'Eve' go, he just kept holding her tighter. He wasn't sure if it was because he hoped that if he did, she wouldn't be able to hate him. Or if he just wanted to hold fast to these memories of her.

Either way, Jacob was pretty sure that he was falling in love with her and that Christmas was only going to bring him pain and heartbreak instead of joy. Yet he still pursued her. She was a flame and he was a moth. He tried, he tried so hard to put distance between them. But he was powerless against it.

It was eight days to Christmas and five days before he and Flynn were scheduled to go on their Christmas breaks. He'd gone downstairs and persuaded 'Eve' to play hooky for the afternoon. It had been easier than he expected, even though the last few days he'd detected an air of sadness about her.

She was so full of holiday cheer, but sometimes her smile seemed a little forced and when she didn't know he was looking, she seemed a little sad. But holidays did that to people and maybe she was missing a loved one. That happened.

Now his arm was around her waist and they joined the people looking spellbound in the enchanted windows outside of Macy's. Her face was lit up in wonder as she gazed at them and he couldn't help but steal a kiss or two.

"The line's gotta be long but do you want to see if we can get lunch by the Christmas tree? I hear it's a tradition."

'Eve's face lit up. "Oh yes! I haven't yet this year but it's very special. The tree is 45' tall you know." And she spouted facts about the tree and the traditions around it as they went inside.

* * *

They'd had a wonderful lunch under the magnificent tree in the store's historic Walnut Room. A place Cassandra had had lunch in once a year since as far back as she could remember. A place her mother had had lunch every year since as far back as she could remember as well. It was a well beloved Chicago tradition.

Then 'Flynn' was coaxing her into to seeing Santa Claus. She'd protested not wanting to take a spot away from a child. But there weren't too many tykes in line at the moment and so finally she'd relented. The young woman dressed as an elf coaxed 'Flynn' into one of the photos and kindly took pictures with both of their phones.

"What next?" she asked him afterwards, taking his hand.

"Well, I promised my mama some of those mints they sell here. When she heard I was coming, she wouldn't stop talking about them. She went to Chicago once back when this was still Marshall Field's and she loved them. Now anyone passing through Chicago has to get her some."

Cassandra giggled. "Well, we can certainly do that."

They bought a few more things, gifts for his sister and his nieces and a couple of things she'd wanted to give as gifts. They did some more window shopping after that and then ended up back at his car.

"What now?" she asked with a smile.

"I heard the zoo has a nice holiday display, would you like to check it out?"

Cassandra looked at him in delight, how did he know her so well?

"Of course!"

* * *

Tomorrow they were leaving. This was the hardest day of Jacob's life. Harder than the day as a teenager when he'd told his family that he'd no interest in working the family business or in pursuing football beyond the scholarship that was allowing him to go to college. He hadn't intended on this going so far.

If it had just been 'Cassandra', this would be a breeze. He didn't feel anything for her really, besides feeling bad that he was going to have to break it off with her when she seemed to really like his friend. But he also didn't think it was going to break her heart either, she was tough that girl. He did admire that about her. Far tougher than he was.

Because his heart was breaking. He'd fallen in love with pretty redheaded 'Eve' and he absolutely hated himself right now. If he'd only told her the truth, he'd be kissing his love at the airport with the promise that he'd be back in a week and they'd be free to explore their future. She'd beam at him and wish him a Merry Christmas and probably have snuck a present into his checked bags that he'd find at his mama's house.

But he couldn't do this. Couldn't do this to her. He was going to tell her tonight. All of it, including the fact that he loved her. He'd gone into this not wanting to ruin her Christmas. But he couldn't keep this up any more. Couldn't have her go into her Christmas dreaming of their future only to smash it to pieces a few days later.

'Eve' was such a kind gentle soul, so sweet and loving. He could only hope that she might forgive him some day. That's all he could hope for. There was no hope that someone like her would want him after what he'd done.

But tonight, he'd take her out and hold on to the last of the good times he had with her. Then he'd take her home and tell her the truth.

If he was brave enough to do it.

* * *

'Flynn' was leaving tomorrow. And if things were different, Cassandra would be comforted by the knowledge that he'd be back in only a week. She'd see him off at the airport with a kiss, a present hidden in his checked bag. He'd open it and call her on Christmas day laughing as they'd made plans for his return. And their future.

Their future that would never be now. 'Flynn' was a kind man and she knew he'd forgive her eventually. But his forgiveness wouldn't be the same as his love. And despite Eve's beliefs to the contrary, she couldn't see him wanting her after he found out the truth. He was an honest man and she was a liar.

If he'd not be part of this, tomorrow wouldn't be such a hard day. She'd feel bad about breaking it off with 'Jacob' solely because he seemed nice enough and he really liked Eve. But her heart wouldn't be breaking. Not like it was now.

Because she was in love with 'Flynn' and although he'd not said it, she knew he loved her too. She'd seen it in his eyes. It was there shining in the photo they'd taken with Santa at Macy's. The photo that she would cherish for the rest of her life. Her almost. The chance at the love of her life. That she blew because of her lies.

She was going to break both of their hearts and it was going to be miserable four months ahead of them. She wouldn't even blame him if he asked to be moved to another building. As it was, she was practicing a speech to get moved off of the liaison position.

She wasn't even sure now if she could just wait Christmas out. It was like a band aid now. She was going to have to tell him the truth. All of it. Even the fact that she loved him. She was going to tell him tonight.

He was taking her out for dinner and when he brought her home, she would tell him. Until then she'd cling tightly to what could have been. To the memory of the love that shone in his eyes when he looked at her. Because when she was finished, she knew he'd never look at her that way again.

She'd put on her prettiest dress, put on the red lipstick that had always made her feel confident before. One last night together . . .one last memory to cling to.

'Flynn' looked so handsome standing in her doorway though his eyes looked sad. She chalked that sadness up to him thinking about leaving even for a little while. She couldn't help herself, she kissed him but the kiss was desperate and a little sad.

He looked at her, questions in his eyes when they parted.

"I'm going to miss you," she said in explanation. And that was the truth. She was going to miss him. For the rest of her life, she'd miss him. Her almost.

"Oh Evie, it's only a week," 'Flynn' said. But then in a far softer tone, he added, "but I'm gonna miss you too."

And as she reached back for her coat, she swore she heard him mutter something like "forever" but it made no sense and so she let the thought go.

* * *

Eve was at the boys' apartment. Tomorrow they were scheduled to leave for their Christmas breaks. Her heart was heavy, she knew that sweet goofy 'Jacob' was heading for Boston after that. Cassandra would be breaking it off with him after the holidays. And Eve would probably never see or speak to him again.

She'd told Cassandra that she was just having fun, that nothing with 'Jacob' was serious. She certainly was having fun, 'Jacob' was a blast, adorable and geeky but still adventure seeking and oddly enough just a bit dangerous. But she was starting to think that if things were different, he could be something serious. She wasn't Cassandra, who was going to get her heart broken. She wasn't in love with 'Jacob' or at least not the way she was pretty sure Cassandra was with 'Flynn'. But she could be, it wouldn't take much. And she would feel this, the pain of what could have been. 'Jacob' would be a regret. An almost, a maybe, an if things had been different, a love that could have happened in another life.

Still Eve always lived her life in the now. Not in the maybe. So she took this last night like she had any other. She knew that Cassandra was out with 'Flynn', no doubt clinging to every last moment she had with the man. If she was saying goodbye to the man she loved, she'd probably take her time. And she was going to be saying goodbye to 'Jacob' in her own way as well.

"I'm hungry," 'Jacob' proclaimed looking around the kitchen. "Jones has pretty much eaten us out of house and home. And uh Carsen said he wasn't gonna bother shopping until he comes back."

"What are you in the mood for?" Eve asked, putting her arms around his waist.

"I was thinking something sweet . . . ." He kissed her nose. "A bit like you. But decadent. You know a bit like you."

Eve found herself giggling. "Brownies? I make the best brownies."

"We don't have anything here to make them. Back to your place then?" 'Jacob' sighed, it was a bit of a drive back to hers.

"Nah," Eve said. "Gotta a better idea. Eve's got stuff in her kitchen and I've got a key, she won't mind, especially if we share the brownies with her and Flynn."

"Sounds good to me, lead on my sweet."

'Jacob' had been in an affectionate mood all evening, stopping and kissing her every few feet on the short walk up to Cassandra's. His hands were all over her even as she gathered the ingredients for brownies including her secret weapon, chocolate syrup.

She was having a hard time getting the brownies mixed because 'Jacob' was kissing her neck. Then he was trying to kiss her and taste the batter before she poured it into the pan. So she stuck her finger in the bowl and smeared it across his nose. Which lead to him doing the same to her. And much giggling as they started kissing. Soon, really all thoughts of actually baking the brownies were gone. And both of them quite forgot they were in someone else's apartment.

He was unbuttoned her shirt between chocolate flavored kisses as she grabbed the bottle of chocolate syrup. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I certainly am."

And neither noticed the bowl of brownie batter tip over as he lifted her onto the kitchen island . . . .


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: For this chapter I have switched to omniscient narrator. All characters will be referred to by their correct names.

* * *

Jacob and Cassandra's date wasn't really going well. But each was so wrapped up in their own guilt, pain and sadness that they didn't really notice that the other was so quiet. Their kisses were sad and they clung to each other's hands when they walked.

Finally Jacob had noticed Cassandra hadn't said a word in about twenty minutes and had mostly moved the food around on her plate.

"Don't like it?" He asked softly. If he was honest, he hadn't tasted a bite of his own food nor was he even sure what he'd ordered.

"I thought it would be better." She shrugged. "I had a big lunch. Why don't we just go?"

He nodded, it was time to just rip that band aid off. The Uber ride back to their building was quiet and they stood in the lobby not quite sure what to do.

"Coffee?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head toward the staircase. It would be easier to tell him all of this in her apartment, no roommates to make things awkward.

He took a deep breath and nodded. Her apartment was the better choice. Jones and Flynn wouldn't be wandering in at a bad moment. He knew what he had to tell her was going to upset her and she didn't need witnesses.

That is if he had the guts to tell her.

And as Cassandra walked ahead of him, she was thinking the same thing. If she didn't chicken out.

Entering her apartment, she hung her coat on the rack just inside and Jacob did the same thing.

They turned and looked at each other, both of them not quite sure what to say. But then Jacob stopped and tilted his head.

"Do you hear something?"

Cassandra blinked, she heard it too. Giggling? Oh no, she was not . . . .Cassandra realized her dead bolt hadn't been set. That meant . . . **Eve**!

"She seriously . . . ." Cassandra stormed off in the direction of the noise, which was coming from her kitchen. Jacob following closely behind.

Cassandra had been filled with a variety of emotions tonight: pain, heartbreak, guilt and a lingering resentment of Eve and the man she thought was Jacob. And as she got closer to her kitchen and saw Eve's shirt on the floor, that resentment grew stronger.

Then she saw what was going on in her kitchen. Chocolate syrup and what looked like brownie batter were everywhere. Including all over the shirtless couple on the kitchen island who were still kissing oblivious to the fact that they had company. Behind her, Jacob bit back a laugh but Cassandra let her emotions switch from grief to full blown rage. How **dare** they in **her** kitchen?

Eve heard the laugh and opened her eyes, shrieking when she realized that she was not alone and only in her bra. She shoved Flynn and they both tumbled to the other side of the island.

"What the hell? I mean what the actual hell?" Cassandra was shouting. "My kitchen!"

"We. . . um. . . were making brownies," Eve said, peeking over the top of the island, the man with her doing the same.

"Making brownies? Is that what you call that? And you had the nerve to give me a lecture about sleeping with Flynn? Have you absolutely no shame either of you? I mean seriously **Eve** , my kitchen!"

Cassandra was so upset that she totally forgot about the farce. And Jacob, finally putting two and two together, was frozen in place, staring at her mouth open in shock.

Eve started motioning to Cassandra that she'd just blown it but Cassandra kept ranting. Finally she trailed off on a note about not cleaning up this mess.

That's when Flynn, blinking, said, "I thought you were Eve."

Cassandra blinked, horror crossing her features when she realized what she'd done.

Eve cleared her throat. "Enough with this shit. I'm Eve Baird and she's Cassandra Cillian. We switched, it's a long story."

Instead of looking upset, Flynn beamed at her. "Splendid! We switched too! I'm Flynn Carsen and he's Jacob Stone!"

"Seriously?" Eve said turning to look at him.

And Cassandra burst into tears and fled the room. Jacob was still frozen in place, staring after her.

"Oh for god's sake, Jacob or whoever the hell you are. Go after her!" Eve yelled, finally breaking Jacob from his spell and he tore off after Cassandra.

After Jacob rushed out of the room, Eve was left to stare at Flynn. "So you're Flynn and she's been with Jacob the whole time . . .well I'll be damned."

Flynn beamed. "And you're Eve and I have to say that it suits you far better."

Eve laughed, "nice to meet you Flynn."

"Same here, Eve."

And then he kissed her.

* * *

Jacob caught up with Cassandra in the hallway where she was leaning against the railing of the staircase, sobbing.

"Eve . . ." Jacob shook his head. "Cassandra, please look at me."

Her voice was very small. "I'm not sure what to do."

Jacob nodded. "I know, I don't know whether to laugh or cry myself. But you're Cassandra, my Cassandra and you always have been." His voice was full of wonder.

"And you're Jacob." Cassandra sniffled, finally raising her head.

" **Your** Jacob," he said, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. She didn't resist as he slid the hand down to take her hand in his. "Come down to my place, I don't want to have this talk in the stairwell."

She nodded and followed him, their hands still entwined. And for once in this miserable day, they both thought maybe it would be okay after all.

Jacob lead her into his room, closing and locking the door behind him. That last thing he needed was Jones coming home if they talked in the living room. He'd dreamed about having Eve . . .Cassandra here in this room, but it wasn't exactly how he'd pictured it.

Cassandra was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed, hugging herself. He walked closer, putting one hand on her crossed arms.

"Why?" He whispered. "You are so beautiful, why would you . . . ."

"I made a mistake," Cassandra sniffled. "I accidentally clicked on the wrong photo. And before I could tell you I made a mistake, you were going on about my golden beauty!"

"Oh God," Jacob started to laugh though his laughter had an edge of hysteria. "I was so intimidated by that photo!"

"Really?" And Cassandra was laughing too, with that same touch of hysteria. "Is that why?"

He nodded. "Eve is . .. she's stunning, yes. But she's so . . . ."

"She's very nice," Cassandra defended her friend. "But I could see why she might be a little intimidating."

"I panicked," Jacob ran his free hand through his hair, leaving the other on Cassandra's arms. "She's not my type. But she is Flynn's. And I kinda thought maybe he might be hers too. So I used his photo."

"You weren't wrong . . . I mean about them being obviously each other's types. He's not mine."

"Yeah?"

She nodded, this time smiling and lowering her arms. His hand fell away but as she stepped forward, he put his hand on her waist and she put her arms around his neck.

"You're my type, Jacob Stone. And you always were. Why didn't I know?"

He chuckled moving his other hand to her waist and pulled her tighter. "We did. We always knew. I cared nothing for her. I mean I felt bad about potentially hurting her because she cares so much for you and for Flynn. But you, it was always you for me."

She nodded. "I felt the same way. Nothing at all for him beyond thinking he was sweet and feeling bad for hurting him because he's your friend and Eve likes him so much. But I knew you, I always knew you."

"I was going to tell you tonight," he sighed. "I was afraid you'd hate me."

"Same," Cassandra said. "Exactly the same. I'm surprised you're not angry. I'm surprised I'm not angry. I just feel relief."

"I can't . . .I can't be angry at you for doing what I did. I still kinda hate myself for putting us through this. But I can't . . . I love you, Cassandra. I was going to tell you that too."

"Oh, Jacob," she whispered his name like a prayer. "I love you too. I was going to tell you that too."

He leaned down and kissed her. His kisses usually made her forget everything but the feeling of him surrounding her. But this time it was different, it was if she was finally complete. There were no lies between them anymore. She was Cassandra and he was Jacob. All of the guilt and the pain she'd carried around for so long fell away and she was able to give him everything she was.

Kissing her just wasn't enough for him, not in that moment. He pulled her closer and without really thinking about it, his hand was working the zipper on the back of her dress.

She broke away from the kiss, short of breath.

"The other night, the only reason I stopped . . . ."

"Was because I called you Flynn," Cassandra realized.

"Everything else I said was true though. I usually don't move this fast. But," he reached a hand out to stroke her cheek. "This is so much more than want. I need you."

She nodded and the hand that had stilled on her zipper finished pulling. She started working the buttons on his shirt and whispered, "make love to me, Jacob."

* * *

Sometime later, he was drawing circles absently on her bare arm as they lay entwined on his bed. Neither was really inclined to move from the circle of each others' arms now that they'd given everything to each other.

But Cassandra finally giggled when her stomach growled.

Jacob laughed. "You didn't eat dinner."

She shook her head, "no. And I'm hungry."

Jacob bit his lip in thought. "I honestly don't know what I have in my kitchen."

"Kitchen . . ." Suddenly Cassandra's eyes went wide as she remembered what had happened that evening. "My kitchen!"

"What?" Jacob looked confused as Cassandra sat up suddenly , pushing out of his arms and off the bed, looking around the floor for her clothes. "What about your kitchen . . . . Ohhh."

"Yes! We left them. There in my kitchen. Doing God knows what." Cassandra made a face and shuddered. "Probably what we were doing. On my kitchen island. Oh God."

"Cassie," and Jacob smiled, deciding that was even better than the Evie nickname. "Sweetheart, calm down. I know Flynn and he's not gonna do that in your place."

Cassandra shot him a look. "They were already halfway there!"

"I'm sure they got carried away. They probably talked and then cleaned up the mess they made. But tell you what, we'll get dressed and we'll go up and check."

Cassandra nodded and then leaned over and kissed him tenderly. "Thank you."

* * *

Jacob had managed to calm Cassandra down from most of her hysteria about the state of her kitchen before they emerged from his bedroom.

They weren't alone in the apartment, Ezekiel was sitting on the couch his laptop open.

"Oh, hello Ezekiel," Cassandra said awkwardly.

Jacob cleared his throat. "We were just . . . ."

"Oh, I know what you were doing, you might wanna keep it down just a notch there, uh Flynn."

Cassandra blushed very red. Jacob groaned. "You can drop it, Jones. The girls know who we are."

"Oh, good!" Ezekiel said. "I was getting sick of playing who's who. And you know that she's . . . ."

Stone had been about to share the fact that the girls switched and now he circled to the front of the sofa. "That she's what?"

"Not Eve? Come on, mate. How the hell slow are you?"

Stone's face flushed with anger. "What?"

Ezekiel looked over to a blushing and confused Cassandra. "You did tell him right?"

"Yes, tonight. But how . . . ."

"You people are adorable. Seriously? Have none of you ever heard of the Internet?" Ezekiel had been typing while he was talking and turned his laptop around. To display Cassandra's Linked In account. Which included her photo.

"And Eve Baird? The pr director of a major museum? She has photos all over the net. Social media, newspaper articles, the website of the museum. Wow."

Stone was red, but Cassandra knew it wasn't from blushing. "You knew this whole time?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It wasn't difficult."

"And you didn't think to **tell** me?"

"Hey, hey, what are you getting mad at me for? It wasn't any of my business. You were the ones played this stupid game not me. I have to say it was highly entertaining wondering how long you all could keep this up . . . ."

"Jones, I swear to God, I am going to . . . ." Cassandra laid a hand on Jacob's arm, stopping him in mid sentence. She started laughing.

He looked at her sideways and something about the look on her face calmed him.

"We're the idiots, Jacob." She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I think we just need to laugh. And find out what happened in my kitchen."

"Why do I have a feeling I don't want to know what happened in your kitchen?" Ezekiel asked as Flynn opened the door, his hand in Eve's.

"It's fine, all spic and span." Flynn grinned. "Oh hello Jones. Did you know the girls switched too? Isn't that fascinating?"

Ezekiel looked at both couples, slammed his laptop shut. "I am surrounded by idiots." And stomped off to his room.

"What's his deal?" Eve asked.

"Don't ask," Jacob added. "So her kitchen is clean? She's been a little freaked out."

Eve nodded. "We cleaned it all up. I am so sorry Cassandra. We got carried away. We really had planned on making going away brownies for everyone . . . ." And then Eve's face fell. "You're still leaving."

Jacob put his arm around Cassandra. He was coming back, but Flynn had already put in for Boston.

Flynn turned to Eve. "Did I ever tell you I love traveling?"

And Eve threw her arms around him and kissed him.

Jacob and Cassandra exchanged smiles and he pulled her in for a hug, kissing her forehead.

When Eve broke away from Flynn, she looked at the other couple. "So you guys are good?"

"Wonderful," Cassandra said.

"So I was thinking," Eve laughed. "Out for going away cheesecake?"

"Oooh," Cassandra said grabbing Jacob's hand. "Now you're speaking my language."

The End

* * *

Thank you so much for being patient when the story got away from me and I ended up having to wrap it up after Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season! Comments and reviews would make my day.


End file.
